The Season Starts Now

Last week wasn’t important. It’s very unlikely that come May, a team will look back to the very first game of the season and point to it as the main reason why they failed to achieve what they set out to. Okay, a loss is a loss and in a league which looks set to be as tight as ever, every point will be vital in the long-run. Nevertheless, there are still 111 points up for grabs and so it’s imperative that United move on quickly from the defeat at Everton and get the season under-way at Old Trafford with a win. The last thing we want is to be looking up at a 6-point deficit with only two games played. Monday’s result wasn’t surprising, given the performances of the two sides, but it was dreadfully disappointing.

Manchester United players look dejected after conceding what would turn out to be the only goal of the game.

We didn’t deserve to win and I won’t kid myself into thinking that we were in any way unlucky not to walk away with one. But (there is always a but) to concede the only goal of the game in the manner in which we did was very frustrating. Maruoane Fellaini, whether he was Man of the Match or not (he’s now the best midfielder in the Premier League too if you weren’t aware), is always, always, going to be a threat in the air. It’s not as though you can miss him, is it? I said it at the time and I’ll say it again. What the hell was Michael Carrick doing marking him when we had Nemanja Vidić in the side? It baffled and enraged me in equal measure. Surely the Belgian had been earmarked as a danger from set-pieces beforehand? And even if no specific plan had been formed as to how the United defence were going to deal with him, as not only our captain, but as our best (and indeed, only match-fit) centre-half, Vidić should have taken charge of the area and marked the 6′ 4″ man himself (I’m not actually sure if this measurement takes into account his afro or not). I’ll reiterate again that I don’t believe we deserved to get anything from the game on the back of how we performed, but had the defence dealt with that one corner-kick better, we could have come away from Goodison Park with a point.

Despite the loss, Shinji Kagawa seemed unfazed by his new surroundings.

Robin van Persie ended up making his début for the club off the bench but had a relatively quiet twenty minutes. It was a big ask to expect miracles from the Dutchman coming on with the best part of the game played and being confronted by one of the outstanding defensive performances of recent memory. As nice as it would have been, it wasn’t to be. Danny Welbeck started the game and despite not being able to make a mark, he was lively in the sense that at least he was making runs off the ball. When van Persie entered the fray we had nobody on the pitch who looked willing to get in behind, which played right into the hands of the Toffees back-line. It does make you wonder why Dimitar Berbatov was preferred to Javier Hernandez on the bench as well. Fellow débutant Shinji Kagawa, who started the game, looked very comfortable however and was one of the only players to come away from the game with any real credibility. I liked how he kept things simple and wasn’t desperate to try to show off his talent. An eagerness to impress can often lead to silly mistakes, but he didn’t succumb and I was excited by what I saw. (He better keep it up too because I’ve just drafted him into my Fantasy Football team!)

Mladen Petrić helped himself to two goals on début as Fulham come to Old Trafford off the back of a 5-0 win over Norwich last weekend

Today Manchester United welcome Fulham to Old Trafford. Where United were left downbeat after their opening day performance, Fulham more than set themselves a benchmark and will be on a high having crushed Norwich City 5-0. The defensive injury crisis (seemingly the most common phrase when talking about Manchester United nowadays) hasn’t eased up, and so Vidić will again be partnered by an unnatural centre-half. Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted that Patrice Evra could move across from left-back, but having also confirmed that new signing (and fellow left-back) Alexander Büttner will only make the bench, the option of Evra playing centrally seems far-fetched. Michael Carrick then will more than likely have to deputise once more. It is slightly unnerving knowing that one of the best centre-forwards from the opening weekend is visiting Old Trafford at such a time, however hopefully the home advantage will see United largely on the front-foot and Mladen Petrić won’t see too much of the ball. The midfield then, is vital. It would be nice to see Carrick play in midfield, his ability to keep the ball and control the games tempo is exactly what will be required, but needs must.

Robin van Persie will look to silence the critics on his home début for Manchester United.

Should Robin van Persie start (and I fully expect him to) we will see for the first time how the potential Rooney/Van Persie partnership could shape up. But will it even work? It’s a question that is very much still relevant in my opinion. People just assume that two world-class players will be able to play together. In an ideal world, this would be the case but there are plenty of instances where it just doesn’t quite click. Gerrard & Lampard anyone? The amount of nonsense doing the rounds on-line following Van Persie’s supposedly poor début last week though is laughable to say the least. As a player who I am now supposed to consider ‘one of my own’, I feel it is my duty to stick up for him, but he really doesn’t need me to do that. I’m hoping (for the teams sake more than his) that his football does the talking.

Will the real Van Persie please stand up?